


Meeting at the Turtleduck Pond

by sixela6



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canon Universe, Established Relationship, Established Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Fluff, Happy, Innuendo, M/M, No Conflict, One Shot, POV Sokka (Avatar), POV Third Person, Romantic Fluff, Turtleduck(s), Wordcount: 5.000-10.000, after the war, sokka and zuko stupidly in love with each other, sokka loving zuko, zuko trying to impress sokka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28778946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sixela6/pseuds/sixela6
Summary: Sokka is visiting at the Fire Nation Palace and Zuko keeps disappearing at sunset for an hour. Sokka is curious and catches him meditating by the turtleduck pond. During the following week, Zuko keeps coming to bed happier and more excited, until he finally says he wants to show Sokka something.OR,Sokka thinks he sees Zuko meditating by the turtleduck pond, but it's actually much more adorable than that.
Relationships: Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Zuko / Happiness
Comments: 18
Kudos: 125





	Meeting at the Turtleduck Pond

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fanfiction I've completed in 8 YEARS, and the first fiction (at all) I've written from scratch in 4 years. This thing came out of me like it was meant to exist (5 days?!). 
> 
> It's literally so fluffy, so lovey, and I can't believe there's no heartache here but the good kind. It’s a straightforward read, a nice break from all the miscommunication (that we love to hate) and heart break of the popular fanfictions circulating right now (which – of course, thank you, authors, I love what you do). 
> 
> I’m so happy to share this and I love to read comments, but just thank you for reading and giving this a shot! 
> 
> Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy! - Six

For a while now — just before the sun sets — Zuko disappears for an hour, then finds Sokka just after the sky settles fully into darkness.

Sokka is halfway through his three-month stay at the Fire Nation palace with Zuko before he continues on to the Northern Water Tribe. As usual, for the first month they were reunited they didn’t leave each other’s side. As long as one of them wasn’t in a meeting or doing important duties they were together; even when Zuko did his daily stacks of paperwork he let Sokka sit beside him, even brushing a hand through his hair or rubbing his leg with a lightly heated palm. 

So when Zuko started disappearing, Sokka had assumed he was catching up on some nightly meditation that he’d been skipping since Sokka arrived.

The first time, Zuko had snuck some money into Sokka's bag and suggested he join Iroh on his once-per-visit market trip. Sokka had asked why Zuko wasn’t coming, and Zuko said simply he had some things to do, with the kind of overly-pleasant smile he held when he was hiding a secret — a _good_ secret; so, a _surprise_. Sokka wouldn’t be the one to ruin his fun, no matter how nice it was to tease a shy Zuko, so he didn’t try to push — even though he would miss Zuko chiding his uncle on his outlandish spending (which was now Sokka’s job, though could Zuko realistically trust _him_ to do that?) all while buying anything Sokka so much as _looked_ at for too long. Sokka’s only condition was that they’d go together another day, and Zuko upheld that promise.

When the few days after went by without so much as a _hint_ that Zuko had planned anything, Sokka had convinced himself that it was all in his head — he had hardly noticed the pattern of Zuko grabbing him at the end of the evening with something for Sokka to do without him until more than a week had gone by. Sokka was incredibly curious, but every night Zuko returned, always finding Sokka no matter where he was around the labyrinthian palace, Zuko was warm and happy to see him, and Sokka would do anything to have that smile on his face every night. 

So Sokka let him be, even as Zuko stopped having suggested excursions and he would suggest his own or tell Zuko he was busy, anyway, and that he’d see him in their chambers.

But today, Zuko had to work through dinner and Sokka had back to back meetings with some Earth and Fire ambassadors to provide messages for his return to the Northern Water Tribe, so he’s particularly tired and particularly misses Zuko. So he looks for him.

There’s not many good options, in Sokka’s opinion, within the palace for meditation — at least places not blocked by doors that Sokka refuses to open — so he only does a quick lap on the first floor before he heads outside to the gardens that surround the entire palace. When he opens the door outside, he steps into golden hour.

Golden hour in the Southern Water Tribe feels vast, the light creating a second sea of soft yellow glowing inside the snow crystals covering all the eye could see. Golden hour in the Fire Nation is crowded, multiplying and intensifying the warmth in the red and gold scenery; the metal infrastructures reflect the light glaringly, like the sun fractures itself into the very fabric of the city. Sokka loves them both, especially when he gets to see Zuko during the hour, all golden and bright.

Sokka smiles to himself, a hopeful spring in his step that he can catch Zuko before the sun sets too far. He calls out his name as he rounds one of the corners, but a small group of old men glare at him over their shoulders, so he slinks behind a pillar under the arched pathway and decides to do the rest of his searching silently. When he finally reaches the edge of the turtleduck pond, he smacks his head and says, “Of course,” tutting at himself for starting at the opposite end of the garden from here. He gets close enough to see a shoulder peek from behind Zuko’s favorite tree, and a few steps more reveals a head and a hairpiece. Sokka smiles, happiness rising up into his chest just from the sight of him. _So he is meditating_ , Sokka concludes, leaning against the half-wall to watch him.

Zuko isn’t facing the pond in front of him, but rather is angled a toward the back fence and bushes, so he doesn’t see Sokka come further down the path. He’s sitting totally still, perfect posture as always.

The palace behind Sokka blocks most of the sun but the very last of it pools in Zuko’s upturned palm resting at his side. Sokka knows this meditation form is different than his morning one — usually Zuko has his hands resting in his lap. Sokka doesn’t quite understand the slight change and he figures there must be a purpose, but it’s a much less interesting train of thought than how warm Zuko’s hand must be after it’s been soaking up the last breath of the day’s light. 

His eyes go in and out of focus watching Zuko’s hand, giddy with the knowledge that his hand fits perfectly inside it and that he can hold it whenever he wants; hat those hands have tenderly caressed his face, urgently gripped his clothes, delicately tended his wounds and so much more. Spirits, he wants to go over there and kiss him within an inch of his life. 

He truly considers it, too, snapping himself out of his daze, but just as he begins to lift himself onto the short wall (despite all the times that Zuko has told him, _there are stairs for a reason_ ) he notices that Zuko actually has his eyes open. Curious, Sokka squints and tries to follow his gaze to what he’s looking at.

All Sokka sees are the bushes: full of springtime buds, freshly green, and whatever young flowers that started to bloom slowly closing on themselves with the absence of the sunlight. The longer he stares, though, the more movement he can see. There’s definitely something underneath the bush directly in front of Zuko. There’s a small opening, _just_ wider than the natural clumping of the branches makes, but from this angle Sokka can’t get a good perspective to see underneath. He can just tell that it’s darker than other places in the bush, and that there’s bits of movement below the lowest branches.

Sokka settles on top of the wall to watch, hoping to see whatever Zuko sees eventually. The sun must have already dipped below the horizon because it gets darker every time he blinks. A few more blinks and there won’t be enough light to see halfway past the front of the pond, let alone a little rustling in a bush on the far wall. 

(Zuko insisted, despite the risk — especially when he’s the one out there the most — that this part of the gardens not have lanterns lit at night so that it stays as natural as possible. Sokka is able to soothe the cold worry in his stomach from this fact the second it comes. It’s a testament to the years that have gone by. No, not enough to abandon the worry in the first place — not with how many assassination attempts there have been — but enough to be rationally optimistic.

 _Optimistic_ , Sokka shakes his head fondly, _Zuko sure has a funny way of changing things_.)

Sokka is just about to give up the search when a tiny foot reaches out from under a branch and steps into the open grass. It’s similarly tiny head peeks out just behind. It’s a turtleduck, the smallest one Sokka has ever seen. He bites back the urge to _aww_ out loud, realizing that Zuko must have been meditating when he noticed the turtleducks in the bushes and decided to wait for them to come out.

Sokka slowly twists on his bottom to drop back down on the paved path as quietly as he can, and when he turns back around he doesn’t see the turtleduckling anymore. He hopes it wasn’t his fault. Sokka stays for one more look then continues back the way he came. He doesn’t want to scare the nest of turtleducks by walking over, or startle Zuko by staring at him from the shadows — and, mostly, he’s interested as to how Zuko finds him so fast every night after his meditation, so Sokka kind of wants to give him a challenge and wait someplace he’s unlikely to be.

He catches the tail end of the firebending gardens keepers lighting the lanterns on the rest of the paths. The ones who see Sokka give him a shallow bow with the Fire Nation hand gesture. Sokka still awkwardly waves and nods his head back at them. Sometimes it’s still surreal — Fire Nationals seeing him in his blues, donning Water Tribe fabrics — and to not have the concern of being attacked. It’s quite nice, if Sokka says so himself. Though — as the Fire Lord’s partner, he’s presented with much more deference than he’ll ever get used to.

Sokka chooses to stand outside the royal spa. It’s not too far from the gardens and the sweet and earthy aroma of oils, salts and soaps floated from underneath the door: quite a relaxing waiting spot. He leans against the wall adjacent to the door and crosses his arms, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath in, seeing if he could identity at least _one_ of the smells. He feels like he’s on the right trail for one — definitely a plant — duh — but one from the ground, a short one, he can just tell — it’s got a mustiness, like it comes from water — or maybe that’s just the _actual_ water for the spa — and he knows it smells pink, and flowery, and —

“Sir Sokka?”

Sokka’s eyes fly open to a palace attendant bowing her head while keeping her eyes on him in question. Sokka shakes his head and says, “Yes, hello, sorry.”

“Would you like to use the royal spa? I can send for help to be here in just a minute.”

Sokka laughs lightly, waving his hands in front of himself. “No, no, that’s okay, I was just waiting for Zuko.”

“I could prepare something for you while you wait for the Fire Lord,” she suggested with a polite smile, holding her hands clasped in front of her.

“No, thank you, really. I just stood over here because it smelled good.”

The young woman smiles a little wider and bows her head to leave, and just over her shoulder Sokka sees Zuko slowing from a jog to a walk as he spots Sokka. He gives Sokka a little wave and Sokka’s heart jumps in his chest. Sokka waves back, standing up from the wall. The attendant bows deeper upon noticing Zuko’s arrival, and he kindly thanks her for her service and dismisses her. Zuko smiles at Sokka as he approaches, but Sokka's not patient enough to wait any longer and starts walking to meet him halfway. He can see Zuko take a steadying breath, probably from jogging, and Sokka realizes that Zuko must have been fast-walking around the palace to have caught up to him so fast. Sokka smiles wider.

Zuko’s hand reaches out in front of him to grab Sokka’s ( _Finally._ ) and Sokka does the same, pulling Zuko into him as soon as he gets a grip. Zuko’s teeth start showing in his smile now, and his free hand snakes around Sokka’s shoulders to embrace him. Sokka kisses him before he’s able to stop smiling enough to kiss back, but Sokka doesn’t care. He does it again until Zuko laughs and releases their hands to grab Sokka’s face and hold him still. Sokka’s cheeks squish in Zuko’s fingers as he grins.

“What are you doing over here?” Zuko asks, raising his eyebrow. Sokka purses his lips for a kiss which Zuko grants him, softening his hold on his face but not quite letting go yet. Sokka kisses him harder, and Zuko’s other hand tightens in his clothes.

“Waiting for you,” Sokka answers against his lips. Zuko pulls back, looks him in the eyes and smiles, again. Sokka smiles back. They just can’t help it, can they? Sokka loves him. “I love you,” he says, and, somehow, Zuko’s eyes soften more.

“I know,” he remarks, and Sokka playfully pinches his hand that had dropped to his chest. “I love you, too,” Zuko says quieter. Sokka’s lips curl up with the rising of his heart, and he grabs that same hand again, lacing their fingers together. Zuko follows his lead and steps in time with him down the hall toward their chambers. They pass where Sokka had been standing and Zuko asks again, “So, what were you doing outside the spa?”

“I was on a walk and I wanted to see just how good you are at finding me.”

Zuko shakes his head, letting go of Sokka's hand to instead wrap his wrist around Sokka’s bicep and place his opposite hand above it. Sokka flexes a little and Zuko squeezes his fingers in appreciation, smirking at him.

“How good was I?” Zuko says, as if the answer wasn’t clear enough.

“Well, you found me.” Zuko squeezes his arm again, sighing expectantly. “You were very good. A master of Sokka-tracking,” Sokka indulges him.

“I agree,” he nods, not a trace of sarcasm. “I _almost_ went straight to the room, though,” he amends, “I figured you would have been tired.”

“Oh, I am,” Sokka agrees, “so you’re going to come straight to bed with me, right?” Zuko hums like he’s contemplating it, but just shrugs. “Okay, after you eat, then. But you’re eating in the bed.”

“No, I am not,” Zuko declares. “No crumbs in my sheets.”

“As far as you know,” Sokka whispers, and Zuko’s head snaps to him, saying, “What—” but Sokka continues on louder, “I’ll allow it, as long as you get me something to eat, too.”

“When have I ever gotten food for just myself?”

“I can’t recall a single time, but I’m not letting it happen again.”

Zuko rolls his eyes. He keeps Sokka as close as he can the entire walk, his thumb idling tracing a line back and forth on Sokka’s skin as he stops an attendant to ask for food to be sent to their room.

Two hot meals are waiting for them in their chambers, and Zuko removes his robe and Sokka his outer shirt and bottoms. They sit at the table and Zuko asks about his meetings, and Sokka asks about Zuko’s, and Sokka gets Zuko to let him feed him a couple bites of food. When Zuko is done eating and goes to change, Sokka pushes the cart of empty dinnerware outside the door to the chambers. When he returns Zuko is left only in his sleep shorts and his hair is down, falling over his bare shoulders and framing his face as he gets into the bed. Sokka undresses and hops onto the bed with a speed that makes Zuko laugh. Sokka chases that laugh with his lips, rolling on top of him and holding him close.

| ~ |

Sokka manages to hang onto Zuko for a few extra minutes in the morning before Zuko has to leave for his duties — today, it’s the start of planning some architectural changes to the palace and gardens. Sokka lets him go after Zuko promises to meet him for breakfast once the head gardener is satisfied with how long Zuko watches the sun rise over the eastern walls. Sokka is asleep again before Zuko left the bed, but he wakes to a hand brushing across his cheek after what felt like only a few minutes. The hand leaves and Zuko apologizes quietly for waking him up, but Sokka reaches out toward the dip in the bed and grabs onto his arm. “I’m up,” Sokka says, taking a deep breath through his nose and squinting his eyes. He finds Zuko’s soft smile and purses his lips, waiting, and Zuko bends down to kiss him. He smells like flowers and a little bit like mint. “Mmm,” Sokka hums happily, turning away to stretch his arms and legs, “Good morning.”

“Good morning. Again,” Zuko adds fondly, standing up. He slowly begins to open the curtains on the highest window, gently easing Sokka’s eyes to the morning light. Zuko has most of his hair locked into his topknot today instead of his typical half-up half-down, and Sokka guesses it’s because he started his day earlier than normal and didn’t fuss as much with it. Sokka imagines all of Zuko’s hair tied at the crown of his skull, quite a dreamy look on him, but he supposes it’s not very Fire Lord-like. Sokka sighs. He wants to take all of that inky hair in his hand, pull it behind Zuko’s head, tilt his head up with a tug to bring his gaze to Sokka’s, and —

Zuko comes back over to the edge of the bed and crosses his arms over his chest. “I kept my part of the bargain, now it’s your turn. Come on, get up. Breakfast time.”

Sokka crosses his own arms over his face. “Can’t a man fantasize in peace?”

Zuko blushes a bit but pulls the blankets off of Sokka’s body, placing a steady hand on his chest. “Do it at the breakfast table.” Sokka smirks. “Actually, please don’t do that.”

“No one’s a mind reader,” Sokka points out, using Zuko's outstretched arm to pull himself up to sitting. He swings his leg over the edge of the bed and wraps it around Zuko’s legs to make him step closer. Sokka hugs his torso, cheek to his stomach. Zuko pats him on the head. “ _You’re_ the best guesser, but I’ll just tell you what I’ve been thinking about tonight.”

Zuko grips a handful of Sokka’s hair between his fingers and Sokka hums happily.

“I have a bath ready for you,” Zuko mentions quietly. Sokka hugs him tighter.

“You’re the best, babe.”

| ~ |

The long table in the dining hall welcomes only a few guests this morning: a family of nobles and the visiting architects, with Sokka and Zuko beside each other at the center. Each group is separated from each other with a few chairs in between; on easy, low-stakes days, Zuko likes to forgo many of the stricter etiquette rules, and it’s certainly more relaxing for the guests. There’s always a time for structure, a series of steps to follow, but sometimes it’s just nice to eat a meal how one would without royalty around. Sokka is, however, always hyper-conscious about his posture sitting next to Zuko, who is, in public, both his partner and the _literal Fire Lord of the entire Fire Nation_ , so he’s constantly on his best behavior when sat beside him.

As the guests begin to finish their food, they wait to be gratefully dismissed by their Fire Lord, and Sokka takes his time eating as he does so, wondering how much longer he can keep Zuko around before he leaves to another gardening meeting. Sokka wishes he could go with him; as much as he loves industrial and domestic invention, even he misses good old fashioned landscaping sometimes.

“Will you still be busy at sunset tonight?” Sokka leans into Zuko as the guests bow for their leave. He steals a cherry off one of Zuko’s small dishes, and Zuko pushes the dish closer to Sokka as he grabs his tea with his other hand. Sokka scoots the rest of the fruit onto his own plate, then moves the dish out of the way of Zuko’s sleeve.

Zuko’s unscarred cheek turns the faintest pink. “Yes,” he answers, facing toward Sokka. He drops his hand below the table, palm open and up, and Sokka places his hand inside. Zuko smiles. “But I think just for a few more days.”

Sokka disarms any of his worry with a returned smile, rubbing Zuko’s thumb with his own. He wonders what it is that Zuko is trying to meditate toward, or for, but Zuko seems close to achieving whatever it is and Sokka is happy for him.

“Okay. Just wondering. Maybe I _will_ take advantage of the royal spa, though.”

Zuko chuckles a little, subdued and relieved. He squeezes Sokka’s hand and Sokka looks back up from the fruit he was about to eat. He looks into Sokka’s eyes for a second, then glances around his face, as if he had to take a moment.

“Thank you,” he ends up saying, smiling with half his mouth: shy. “For understanding and being patient.” 

Sokka’s heart melts. He wants to kiss him so badly.

“Of course,” Sokka states earnestly, “Anything for you.” Zuko blushes more and nods, giving his hand one last squeeze before lifting it back up to dig into the last bits of his food.

| ~ |

There is truly an unlimited amount of things to be entertained by in the palace, let alone the entire Fire Nation Capital, but for the next few days Sokka decides to stick with taking long walks after finishing his work — and somehow always ends up by the turtleduck pond. He never stays too long on principle, since Zuko doesn’t know that Sokka is watching him, but Sokka just likes seeing him in _peace_. Zuko’s always facing away from the walkway, but just in his stillness Sokka can tell he’s well and truly content, and it’s food for Sokka’s soul.

| ~ |

For a few evenings toward the end of the week, Iroh invites Sokka to have tea, so he skips his evening walks to chat with him instead. Iroh always makes time to have one-on-one conversations with Sokka whenever they’re in the same place, and since Iroh’s arrival three weeks ago their conversations in passing had left much to desire, so it was nice to finally be able to get together. Sokka was still impressed by how active he still was in the Fire Nation when he was helping Zuko get through notably busy times (though, Sokka suspects this time Iroh’s return had to do mostly with the palace and gardens renovations. And maybe — if Sokka could be so bold — because of his own return to the palace).

Sokka happily listens to his Jasmine Dragon tales, with business booming and new staff on board, and Iroh asks about his current stay in the palace, what he’s been doing since last visit, and his plans when he is in the Northern Water Tribe. Sokka asks how the other members of the White Lotus are, and Iroh tells him that Master Piandao, upon his latest visit, inquired about Sokka’s own wellbeing and told Iroh to say hello. Iroh uses that as a segue to have Sokka detail him about his new swords Zuko had gifted him, and Sokka tells Iroh how they pair well against Zuko’s duel Dao swords when they spar.

When the second rounds of tea run out, they hug and return to their respective chambers for the night. Each time, even as Sokka settles into bed later and later in the day, Zuko still arrives after him.

Eventually, on the day that Iroh says goodbye to return to the Upper Ring, Zuko leaves early in the evening and stays out well past dark. Sokka, feeling extra drained from another goodbye that serves to remind him of the upcoming one he’ll have to say to Zuko much too soon, retires to bed early for the day and decides to read some Fire Nation theater books Zuko has in his room. He lights two lanterns and the bedside candle to see in the steadily darkening room. He settles in the bed with his bare legs beneath the silken sheets and his undershirt still on, book open and on his lap. He takes a sip of his water and immediately wishes it was tea made by Zuko, but he’s comforted by the references in the book he recognizes because of him. He is reminded of the conservative way Zuko used to talk about plays and now dramatically reads the scripts to Sokka whenever he asks him to.

Sokka is easily entertained by the books, and pleasantly moves onto the second and longer one when he finishes the first. This one includes some theory, as well as early translations and historical context to the plays and theater practices it discusses, and Sokka notes that this one looks considerably less used than the one with just the plays and stories presented by themselves.

He’s finishing up the first fourth of the book when Zuko quietly walks in, and Sokka is more interrupted by his surprised, “Oh,” than his actual entrance. Now seeing that Sokka is awake, Zuko walks closer to him with easy strides, smiling all the while. Sokka smiles at him and shuts the book, moving it beside him when he sees that Zuko is going to climb into his lap. Sokka laughs in surprise but gratefully holds Zuko steady with hands on his hips as Zuko removes the sash around his own waist. (Sokka appreciates the fact that Zuko still lets his royal attendants help him with his neck-and-shoulder piece and cape, because the amount of times Sokka has bonked both of them on the head with it is far too many.)

“What,” Sokka emphasizes when the sash is gone and Zuko begins to slide his robe off above his head, “a wonderful surprise!”

Zuko smirks down at him, holding his eye contact as he takes off his undershirt and is left bare-chested. Sokka bites his lip and Zuko flicks his long hair over his shoulder, which causes Sokka’s jaw to hang open, then Zuko grabs his face with both warm palms flanking said jaw. Zuko’s smirk grows for just a second before he leans down and pulls Sokka’s face forward to meet him for a long, hot kiss. When he pulls away and starts to slide his feet back to the floor Sokka nearly cries.

“Let me get undressed,” Zuko shakes his head, face starting to flush as he takes off his bottoms. Sokka’s about to grab him, thinking he’s going to leave the side of the bed to go pull on _shorts_ again, but Zuko just leans over Sokka to grab the book on the bed. Zuko raises his eyebrow and smiles, taking that book and the other and puts them back on his shelf. Sokka opens his mouth to complain about Zuko being so far away but just then Zuko removes his crown and the rest of his hair falls to his shoulders, knocking any words right out of Sokka’s mouth.

Zuko smirks again — _Cheeky tonight_ , Sokka muses wildly, heartbeat picking up as he wonders what’s in store for him — and puts away his crown, extinguishing the lanterns quickly before returning to the bed. He throws the sheets away from Sokka’s body to jump in right next to him, and he once again sits in his lap. Now Zuko’s hair curtains either side of Sokka’s face as he gets kissed, and his hands glide up the back of Sokka’s neck, the back of his head, sending intense shivers down Sokka’s spine and through his scalp as he carefully undoes Sokka’s wolftail. _Yes —_

“I want to show you something,” Zuko breathes into his mouth, his fingers still in Sokka’s hair.

“Let me see it,” Sokka grins, heart pounding with Zuko’s closeness, his kisses, his mouth, his tongue — he holds onto Zuko’s back with one arm as he pushes them both away from the headboard enough to roll Zuko off him and to the side and lean over him. Zuko’s eyes are wide and glittering in the last candlelight, watching Sokka’s every move, following his eyes to his own chest where Sokka’s hand begins to slide down over his lightning scar and to his stomach.

A shaky, awkwardly loud laugh bubbles out of Zuko: it’s so strange and cute Sokka wants to squeeze him. One of his hands grips Sokka’s bicep, the one that’s being used to hold himself above Zuko, and the other hand flies to his own forehead. Sokka pauses.

“I mean,” Zuko starts, letting go of the trembling breath held in his chest, “I mean tomorrow.”

Sokka responds with his own sheepish laugh, patting Zuko’s stomach. “Oh,” he says, trailing his hand down Zuko’s thigh. He leans back to settle on his knees, and as his arm leaves the mattress the hand that was holding it falls, tangling into the sheets instead.

“You didn’t… _have_ to stop,” Zuko mumbles, now wiping his palm down from his forehead over his whole face.

Sokka sends him a smile, rubbing his thighs. _Spirits, his muscles…_

“What do you want to show me?” he asks, unable to contain his excitement.

Sokka can see him smile underneath his hand, and as he blushes Sokka lifts one of his legs to press a kiss to the side of his knee. Zuko doesn’t resist and blushes more, taking an extra second before he removes his hand from his face. It rests on his other side, now all ten of his fingers twiddling with the expensive fabric beneath them.

“I guess,” he begins, glancing away from Sokka then looking back, his lips twitching up, “it’s a surprise.”

Sokka falls on top of him and wiggles his arms below Zuko’s shoulders to hold him and dot his face and neck with kisses. “I,” Sokka says, kissing Zuko on the lips to punctuate every word, “cannot — wait.”

It’s like Zuko’s whole body smiles, his cheeks tightening with the strength of it, his arms and legs hugging all around Sokka’s body. He releases his tight grip a few seconds later, like he was embarrassed his body did that on its own, and again he glances away from Sokka’s eyes before he asks, “Are you busy tomorrow evening?”

“Nope.” Sokka nuzzles his face into the crook of Zuko’s neck, languidly kissing the flustered skin. Zuko exhales. “Was just going to be waiting for you.”

“Mhm,” Zuko hums, distracted, and Sokka grins into his neck as he gently bites down. Sokka feels a hand cradle the back of his head, holding him there and slightly guiding him upward closer to the underside of his jaw. Sokka follows his lead, then Zuko lets go like he just remembered he was in the middle of saying something. “Meet me here tomorrow an hour before sunset then,” Zuko finishes, twisting his head to block Sokka from his neck. Sokka pouts and Zuko pulls him down to kiss the pout away.

“Okay,” Sokka agrees, smiling and pliant in Zuko’s hands, letting him touch him wherever he wants. “I’m excited,” Sokka tells him breathlessly, Zuko’s fingers unnaturally warm as they drag down his back beneath his undershirt.

“I know.”

Sokka’s eyes blink open to Zuko with a crooked smile and mischievous eyes, his hands insistently tugging up the bottom hem of Sokka’s shirt. Sokka throws the shirt off onto the floor, blows out the candle and lets himself be dragged back down to the bed.

| ~ |

Zuko is positively giddy in the morning. He accidentally wakes Sokka from kissing his forehead and cheek, but Sokka keeps his eyes closed for a while as he hears Zuko rustle around the room and start to get ready for the day. When Sokka hears him get into the bath in the other room, he opens his eyes to take a peek. There’s only a curtain to separate this room and that, but Zuko hardly ever pulls it across the doorway, especially when Sokka stays with him. From the bed, Sokka can just see the edge of the tub, where Zuko is sitting low in the water. His eyes are closed, his head tilted back and resting on the lip of the tub. His lips are slightly curved up. Sokka lets his head hit the pillow again.

He fades in and out of half-sleep, listening to the rest of Zuko’s morning routine. He leaves the room for a while and Sokka decides to actually get up. He grabs a casual robe hanging up in the closet, taking a quick sniff of it to find that fresh-and-clean-Zuko smell. He opens the door and an attendant is standing just a few feet away to the side. When he notices Sokka he bows and asks him if he could do anything for him. Sokka asks if it was possible to get some roses from the greenhouse brought to the room where Zuko does paperwork, where he would be right at noon. The man nods his head, answering, “Of course, Sir Sokka,” and Sokka thanks him.

Sokka returns to the room and runs his own bath to wash up, putting on a spray of perfume he hid in the back of his dresser (that Zuko had _custom made_ for him for when he stays in the palace, engraved and with a lock for when he isn’t there). The scent is perfectly subtle, extremely manly, and Zuko never asks if he’s wearing anything; only tends to smell his hair and neck more without realizing why. Sokka claims it to be one of _his_ best custom purchases.

Zuko proves him right when he eventually returns, donning his full Fire Lord regalia once again; he crosses the room to Sokka wrapping his arms in front of the mirror and holds his waist from behind. He leans in to kiss Sokka on the cheek, but as if by surprise, turns his head immediately into the overgrown hair above Sokka’s ear and takes a deep breath. Sokka smirks to himself.

“Mmm,” Zuko hums happily, eventually getting to that kiss he was first attempting as he lets Sokka finish his wraps. “It’s nice to see you awake already.”

Sokka tuts at him with no other response, no sarcasm nor teasing. Sokka can feel Zuko’s energy radiating off him like a yellow halo; a shade of yellow they would call “Lemon Sun” as a pigment, a simple, saturated joy: it hangs around him like a floating cloak, leaving glowing threads along Sokka’s body where he touched.

“You’re coming to breakfast, right?” Zuko asks from the bed, sitting for the moment to watch him. Sokka catches his eyes going from his feet to the top of his head in an appreciative once-over, and then they lock eyes through the mirror.

“Yes,” Sokka answers, taking his hair down and putting it back up again just because it makes his arms look great.

“I’ll have to leave a little early, but…” Zuko trails off. Sokka turns around and Zuko stands up to meet him. “That’s why I’m glad to see you ready to go.” Sokka’s heart gets enveloped by that shiny, invisible cloak right then, unable to keep its affects from his face. “So I can spend some of it with you,” he finishes unnecessarily, but Sokka will always take the extra verbal confirmation of Zuko’s love for him.

“I’m a very punctual person, you should know this,” Sokka chides, reaching for Zuko’s waist.

“It’s not like breakfast is a mandatory thing,” Zuko shrugs, lifting his arms to rest on top of Sokka’s shoulders.

“It is, however, scheduled.”

“I really hate to say this first thing in the morning,” Zuko says, looking unapologetic as ever, “but you _have_ been late to breakfast before.”

“And that’s simply when it was _not_ a part of schedule, so it doesn’t count.”

Zuko sighs dramatically, making a show of rolling his eyes but his uncontained smile deceives him. Really, the whole act was just so darned absurd when his bulky and spiky outfit stretched sharp and wide around him. Sokka waited for him to be done, eyebrow quirking up on its own, and eventually Zuko’s face matched his.

“Am I ever going to get a kiss?” Sokka blinks expectantly. Zuko’s face melts into a soft grin and tilts his head as their lips touch. The morning fades into the tingling in Sokka’s lips, the soft pressure against them, the warmth of Zuko’s body through their layers of clothes.

| ~ |

As Zuko stands up to leave breakfast, after just enough time to finish a cup of tea, some fruits, nuts, and an egg, Sokka catches his hand.

“Don’t forget to meet me at the room an hour before sunset,” he recites their plans, and Zuko lights up at the mention of tonight. Sokka squeezes his hand and lets go. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

“I will see you tonight,” Zuko nods, grinning. Zuko glances around for a split second before placing a hand on the back of Sokka’s chair, his fingers brushing the bare skin of his neck. “I love you,” Zuko whispers into his ear, and heat spreads from his breath down Sokka’s body like an unfurling rose, slowly expanding until it’s open for all to see.

Sokka watches him leave, and Zuko takes one last look over his shoulder, smiling at him, before walking out of sight.

| ~ |

Sokka wonders how Zuko has handled the anticipation of tonight, because all day Sokka has felt the jitters stored in his muscles, jumping out to bite him at random. He tries to alleviate it with a quick walk- or jumping jack- or active stretch-break. The people he was working with begrudgingly indulged his antics for the day, and Sokka suspected it probably had more to do with their Fire Lord’s good mood the past week than any of his brilliant solutions to their questions (though, his brilliant solutions were, after all, brilliant, and Sokka could imagine Zuko telling him to give himself more credit; so he did). 

Sokka had plenty of makeup work to keep him busy up until their meeting time, as he had forgone tying some loose ends in order to give Iroh a proper send-off yesterday. He was hoping Zuko would have been in his office, because without him Sokka wasn’t allowed in (important, world-changing secret documents, and all that) and it was the best place to spread out and hunker down on work. Alas, he was not, so Sokka took himself and his scrolls and papers down to the smaller and more casual of the two libraries on the royal grounds. Sokka could have requested a private room, or have gotten a nice set up going in their chambers, but the documents weren’t that sensitive to warrant such precautions (besides, the hidden security Zuko has following him around was protection enough), and he was able to use the facility’s materials to send mail to his family, Suki, Aang, and Toph! No matter how much fun he’s having with whomever he gets to spend time with, he always misses whoever’s absent something fierce, so he’s gotten into the habit of sending drawings to pass the time and ease the ache in his heart when he doesn’t have enough time to send detailed written letters. (So maybe he could have done more _actual_ work than sending mail, but he’ll have plenty of time tomorrow to catch up, and letters can only send as fast as they’re finished.)

| ~ |

Sokka only has to wait alone for a minute or so outside the room before he hears Zuko coming. His heart is instantly reminded of the anticipation from earlier and starts to skip beats. Spirits, he’ll miss this in a couple weeks — Zuko arriving from around the corner to greet him with a special smile just for him. It makes him ache just thinking about losing it.

When Zuko reaches him Sokka wastes no time in pulling him into a hug which Zuko reciprocates after a moment of concern. He holds onto Sokka tightly, burying his face into Sokka’s neck. Sokka can feel his cautious smile against his skin. “You okay?” Zuko asks, barely above a whisper.

Sokka turns his face into Zuko’s neck as well, vaguely registering that Zuko’s shoulder piece and cape are already gone for the night.

“Yes, just happy to see you.” 

Zuko squeezes him even tighter, and Sokka can’t breathe, but he lets him.

_Strong boyfriend. Mmm._

Just after letting go (and after one quick breath in through his nose, Sokka notices smugly) Zuko beams, “I cannot believe you had flowers sent to my office.” 

Sokka’s chest fills with pride and he holds out his arm for Zuko to grab.

“Since I’m getting a surprise today, I figured you deserved one, too.” 

Zuko tucks a stray hair that isn’t there behind his ear, smiling sheepishly with his cheeks. “I hope it’s worth it,” he says quietly.

“Just your excitement makes it worth it,” Sokka promises. Zuko kisses him. “Ready?” Sokka asks when he pulls away. Zuko nods. “Lead the way.” 

Zuko uses the hold on Sokka’s arm to guide him around the palace, and Sokka finds it nice to just go without having to think. He’s content to just focus on Zuko answering his questions about his day full of architecture blueprints and city leaders, so he only notices they stop outside the dining hall when Zuko pushes the door open and waits for him to walk inside. Sokka gives him a quizzical look at the dark and empty room, but Zuko tells him they’re just here to grab something first.

Zuko takes them to a back door where the waiters come in and out from when meals are being served, which leads them to the kitchen. There’s a couple chefs there still cleaning up from tonight’s staff dinner while also preparing food for tomorrow. When they see Sokka and Zuko’s arrival they bow respectfully, but Zuko barely has to step more than a foot inside before he grabs the small loaf of bread, presumably waiting for him, in a lone basket at the edge of the counter running parallel to the door. Zuko thanks the chefs by name and they bow as they leave, but Sokka catches their smiles as they return to work.

“Yum,” Sokka anticipates genuinely (and genuinely confusedly). 

“Do you really want a bite of this?” Zuko asks suspiciously.

“I mean,” Sokka shrugs, following him out of the dining hall. He shrugs again when they’re back in the palace halls and Zuko tears off a bit and hands it to him. Sokka bends down to bite it out of his hand and Zuko rolls his eyes, glancing around to see if anyone saw. “Do you ever ask the secret guards what they think of us?” Sokka asks, chewing the very plain and surprisingly tasty bread crust.

Zuko tugs on his shirt to pull Sokka the right way. “No. I don’t ever want to know, either.”

Sokka would be interested. He loves hearing what people think about him and Zuko as a couple — so long as it’s correctly positive and about how cute and perfect they are together.

During this part of their walk, Zuko asks Sokka about what he did today, and Sokka rushes through the boring Ambassador stuff to get to describe each drawing he did for everyone. (A pot of stewed sea prunes for Katara, a two-panel comic about being awkward in the royal spa for Suki, Aang in the sky with Appa for Aang, a bad knock-knock joke for someone to read to Toph, and a still life of the library for Dad, Gran-Gran, and Bato).

“And for me,” Zuko prompts.

“A turtleduck, obviously.”

Zuko blushes and chuckles, a little nervously. “That’s funny.”

“I always draw you a turtleduck!” Sokka says, poking him. He knows all about where Zuko keeps the stash in his office of every single thing Sokka has ever drawn and given him, or drawn and left behind only for Zuko to take — and most of them are various turtleducks, which is just what Sokka draws whenever he thinks of him. For obvious reasons.

“I know, but.” Zuko rubs the back of his neck and then starts picking bits of crust at the widening hole in the bread (which he keeps handing over to Sokka to eat). “It’s just funny.”

“I also, of course, painted your beautiful face.” Zuko blushes hard, and with the redness emerges a smile. Sokka’s encouraged to keep going. “In the finest ink and with the finest brush the small library has to offer: only the best for my muse.”

“Sokka,” he huffs, self-consciously pulling his hair in front of his face.

“And of course, next to your face is my face, and we’re… holding hands.” Now it’s Sokka’s turn to be flustered. Look, they’ve just been holding hands a lot recently, okay, and it’s been really nice, so he was thinking about it. “The hands don’t look the best, but that’s, like, objectively the hardest part.”

“I love it.”

“You haven’t even seen it.”

“I don’t have to,” Zuko says, risking a look at Sokka while still blushing so hard. “But I can’t wait _to_ see it, though.”

Sokka gladly takes the praise and lets it soak into the air, grabbing the bread from Zuko’s hand and tearing off a more substantial bit. As far as surprises go, a sunset stroll with a snack on the go is pretty nice. But he knows Zuko better than that, and knows there must be more to this, even though he’s not letting on what it is, because Zuko certainly knows that if he ever wanted to walk hand and hand with Sokka literally anywhere, all he had to do was say the word and Sokka would be ready to go.

Sokka grabs his hand again, and looks at their skin next to each other’s. It will be five years since the return of Sozin’s comet at the end of this summer; two years since he and Zuko got together (officially). Sokka is always bewildered by how time moves, so he tries not to think about it; it’s been a long while since he’s felt like he needed to control it, and now it only comes back to him when he stops to think. He’s trained himself to live in the moment as much as he can — or as much as the world allows — and when it’s just him and Zuko, it’s easy.

So easy, in fact, to just get lost in the curve of Zuko’s knuckles and the pattern of wrinkles in his palm that Sokka doesn’t notice they’ve stopped walking until Zuko nudges him. When he looks up, he realizes they’re in the same spot that Sokka has been stopping by to watch Zuko meditate (Sokka hadn’t even registered that they had been making their way to the gardens).

After he takes a second to gather in this fact, he looks back to Zuko. Zuko lets go of his hand and grabs the bread, picking at it nervously again.

“Okay, so.” He takes a quick breath. “This is it.”

Sokka looks back to the pond to see if he missed something laying in the grass, or floating in the pond, or resting on the wall, or hanging off the tree, or—

“Okay,” Zuko repeats, steeling himself, handing the (much smaller) piece of bread to Sokka, “So you have to be really quiet. And also really still. And I’m going to go by the wall, but you have to stay at _least_ halfway across the pond from me until I say. Okay?”

“Okay,” Sokka parrots, nearly getting whiplash from all the instructions. Zuko keeps walking around the short wall until he’s below Sokka, who hasn’t quite moved yet. Zuko smiles up at him, then reaches out to grab the front of Sokka’s shirt to pull him down into a kiss. The angle — or, maybe just Zuko himself — makes Sokka feel featherbrained.

“Come on,” Zuko whispers against his mouth then releases him. Sokka’s knee comes up to the wall and Zuko’s face deadpans, so Sokka walks around to the steps Zuko used.

Zuko sets the pace to a tiptoeing walk, and when they’re halfway between the wall and the large willow tree, Zuko taps on Sokka’s shoulder to wait there. Sokka watches Zuko’s reflection in the water as he slowly makes his way around the pond.

When he stops just beyond the tree, bending to peek beneath the bush against the outer wall, Sokka realizes that Zuko wants to show him the turtleduck nest. He lets out a silent laugh through his nose, tapping on the crust of the bread. He considers that maybe, Zuko has something else hidden there, or that there’s more to this than just a secret pile of tiny baby turtleducklings, but Zuko _did_ say that “this was it.”

Sokka laughs at himself once more, watching Zuko sit down where he’s been meditating. _Of course_ it was going to be the turtleducks, Sokka shakes his head fondly, but why wait to show him? He could have pulled Sokka out here any day any time. Zuko starts to lean back on his hands, sending a quick, small smile to Sokka.

And why would Zuko have him wait _all the way_ back here, halfway across the pond where the turtleducklings would still look like little fuzzy blobs and nothing more? He notices Zuko pulling some things out of a pocket and hold them in his hands. Then Zuko lays on his back in the grass, relaxes his arms on either side of him and keeps his palms open and facing upward. One again, Sokka is transfixed by the bright sunlight resting there, like the sun itself can’t resist holding Zuko’s hand.

Then the turtleducklings start coming out, and Sokka _really_ realizes he had been wrong this entire time —

There has been no meditating, there is no something else. _This_ is what Zuko has been doing every day.

To his disbelief, the turtleducklings start marching into Zuko’s hand one by one, and despite the few days that have gone by since Sokka saw them, they look even smaller than he remembers. They peck gently at Zuko’s palm, and again Sokka realizes that, _duh_ , Zuko’s been plucking tiny pieces of bread and hiding them in his pockets _to feed the ducks_. The mother turtleduck steps out from behind the bush, and Zuko seems to look directly at her, then she sits in the grass with a quiet quack. The turtleducklings lose their hesitation with the approval from their mom, and the first one hops from Zuko’s palm up to his forearm, and uses it as a ramp to waddle all the way across his arm and onto his chest. Zuko’s head tilts slowly, as to not startle any of them, back up toward the sky.

He’s got the biggest, goofiest, most unadulterated grin on his face that Sokka has ever seen, and it takes literally every fiber of Sokka’s restraint to not run over there and tell him that he loves him until Sokka can’t speak another sound.

Another one hops up and begins the journey to Zuko’s torso, and Zuko opens his eyes and looks at Sokka. Those eyes are utterly _radiant_ — shining, shimmering, glowing, sparkling, twinkling, all of it — as they stare into Sokka’s.

 _I love you_. _I love you I love you I love you_.

When the last of the six babies are waddling, pecking, or just sitting on Zuko’s chest and stomach, Zuko makes the tiniest jerk of his head, letting Sokka know he can come over. Sokka’s heart is _pounding_ , seriously, like never before. He doesn’t want to mess this up; he never wants Zuko to have another emotion other than this one ever again; he wants to have this moment forever.

He stops a few feet away from Zuko, unsure, and Zuko’s free hand motions for him to come closer. Sokka bites his lip — _Spirits, this is more difficult than sneaking around_ — and decides to crawl the rest of the way, and carefully gets down to the ground. He walks on his hands and knees — well, bread, hand, and knees — over to Zuko, who is clearly trying his hardest not to laugh. The ducklings chirp suspiciously at Sokka, and the mom stands up and walks over to Zuko’s side which makes Sokka freeze. Zuko takes more bread out of his pocket and lays his palm back out again, and the mother eats out of his hand and the ducklings relax. Sokka takes the opportunity to lay down all the way, and he wiggles in short bursts to rest directly beside Zuko, parallel to him. Sokka can finally breathe again, now that the turtleducks haven’t ran away.

Zuko’s left hand finds Sokka’s right and takes a hold.

Sokka stays silent, feeling the precariousness of the situation tenfold now that he’s _right here_. If he closes his eyes he can hear their little claws, probably still a slightly soft at their age, catch and scratch on Zuko’s clothes; he can hear the mother turtleduck’s beak gently clap together as she eats the bread crumbs out of Zuko’s hand; they all peep softly, almost like a chirping purr, and their shells make the smallest _tap_ when two decide to cuddle together. He also hears Zuko’s calm breathing through his nose, his mouth pulled into a close-lipped smile. Once Sokka turns his head to look at Zuko, he keeps it there.

Zuko doesn’t notice his staring for a long time, not until the last of the sunlight fades all the way up the wall. He peeks his scarred eye open at Sokka, then angles his head just a little more to see him better. “Lay your hand on my chest,” he whispers, “with your palm up.”

Sokka lets go of Zuko’s hand and shakily brings it up to his chest, closer to his neck where no turtleducks are. Most of the ducklings are cuddled down and dozing off, but two of them are still looking for crumbs and are walking around all over him. One of the two is curious enough to paw at Sokka’s pinky, then step onto a few more of his fingers like a perch. Sokka is surprised at the smoothness of the foot, the way it’s a little warm from hanging out on top of a firebender’s body, and how he can feel every pinprick of where each claw tip rests atop his sensitive skin. Sokka has never seen turtleducklings this small, let alone touch one; they were probably hatched just a day or two before Zuko found them. It’s a miracle that Zuko was even able to get _close_ to them this small. Then again, Sokka knows, as he watches Zuko watch the duckling nip painlessly at the smell of bread on Sokka’s fingertips, _Zuko_ is a miracle.

“So,” Zuko says, a little louder than a whisper, starting slow to test the way the turtleducks react — when they appear to not care, he continues, “I saw the nest on the way to a meeting, and the mother let me stand by the water, so I thought that I could get them to trust me enough to hold them if I kept coming around, since they were so young. And,” he says, taking a grinning breath, “look at me now.”

Sokka hasn’t seen him this excited and this proud in a really long time, and he just wants to hear all that goodness in his voice more. “Why sun—” Sokka starts a little too loudly, waking up the sleeping babies, and he corrects himself to be soft-spoken; “Why did you always come here at sunset?”

“Oh,” Zuko exclaims, the word jostling the turtleducklings on his stomach. They walk up to Zuko’s chest to join the others, and with the lot of them crowding into the same space, the one that had been nuzzling between Sokka’s fingers decides to make its way totally into his palm and tucks its legs into its shell and closes its eyes. It hardly weighs a thing. “The adults eat the bugs that fly on top of the water, and then they start coming back to their nests around this time, too, so that they’re not out in the dark. They still kind of need the sunlight to keep warm, so I figured that since I’m always warm, if I was by their nest then they wouldn’t mind being out, still. And it doesn’t hurt that they’d be kind of tired, like, from whatever they were doing that day, or whatever, so I was hoping that I wouldn’t get attacked by the mom, which, I didn’t, she’s actually been very nice to me, but a very good mom, too — like, she’s been very protective of the babies. But I also tried to walk by at least once sometime during the day, every day, so they would recognize me faster. I tried to, um — I actually spoke to them, too, so that when I brought you around they wouldn’t be scared away from us talking.”

The longer he talked, the more pink his neck got, so Sokka can only imagine how red his face is on the other side. Zuko was still smiling, like he couldn’t help it, but he started picking at the grass.

“You are an endlessly interesting, kind, and intelligent person. And,” Sokka pushes his wrist down into Zuko’s chest to emphasize, “you have no idea how much I need to kiss you right now.”

Zuko let his head fall to the side, and their faces were so close Sokka has to adjust his eyes to see him clearly. “Not until they get off me,” Zuko tells him, sounding like the whole universe just revealed itself to him, his eyes still bright despite the darkness surrounding them.

“Okay,” Sokka breathes, suddenly emotional, as the word comes out softer than he intended. He glances at Zuko’s lips. If Sokka were a little turtleduck, he knows that he would never want to leave Zuko’s warm chest. He’s probably an even better, toastier pillow to them than he is to Sokka. So Sokka settles into the grass even more, feeling more confident that his presence won’t disrupt this perfect moment, because he figures they’ll be out here for a while.

His hand that holds the turtleduckling is sweating but without the sun he started to get cold. Zuko must have known, somehow, because he took his free hand and rested it on Sokka’s stomach, underneath his shirt, and carefully heated his palm, blossoming heat through his stomach that traveled through his entire body.

_I’m literally the luckiest person alive, aren’t I._

Sokka closes his eyes, now very comfortable and cozy, and lets out a relaxing exhale. He can tell the moonlight is starting to show, and thinks he can hear the firebending gardens keepers lighting the lanterns but that just might be his imagination. He considers how the outside world might view this situation, and quickly realizes he couldn’t care less.

He’s vaguely aware of some movement happening in his palm, maybe the shifting of the turtleduck already there or another one trying to squeeze in next to it, but it just feels like a jumble of fluff, rocks, and dull thorns without the visual of the animal.

He thinks he must have dozed off for a minute or two, because when Zuko speaks, it feels like he wakes up.

“I hope this was a good surprise.”

Sokka blinks his heavy eyelids open, then looks over at him. He’s looking back, a reservedness to his smile that in turn reveals his hopefulness. Sokka glances at his own hand on Zuko’s chest, and sees that the ducklings on it are awake, so he cautiously rotates his hand so the two can step off. He takes his arm back slowly, then uses it to help himself roll over so that he was now on his side facing Zuko.

“This was better than anything I could have imagined.”

Zuko’s face softens, and he gives a little nod.

Sokka leans over, watches Zuko’s eyes slip shut just before Sokka’s lips press to his. Some of the turtleducks chirp and rustle, but they don’t leave yet. Sokka kisses him again, and again, and Zuko’s left hand reaches up to hold the back of his head to keep him there.

The only thing that Sokka imagines _now_ that would be better is getting to do this every year with Zuko for the rest of his life, from this day forward.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3
> 
> (If you’re interested, my Tumblr is @sixela6 .) 
> 
> \- Six


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